Commuters across Metro Vancouver will soon find bumped-up service on several key bus lines, along with the inlet-crossing SeaBus and commuter rail line West Coast Express.
Just in time for back to school, and as many other Vancouver-area residents are set to return to their offices, TransLink has announced their fall service increases across the region.
Starting Sept. 6, public transit users will find rush hour SeaBus frequency upped to every 10 minutes, and every 15 minutes in the early morning.
The West Coast Express Train 4 resumes service twice daily, operating 6:55 a.m. Mission to Waterfront Station and 5:30 p.m. Waterfront to Mission.
Bus service will be upped on routes serving post-secondary institutions as students return to in-person learning. That means Route 143 SFU/Burquitlam Station serving SFU and route 44 UBC/Downtown serving UBC are being reinstated.
Service is being increased on the following routes in Burnaby, Vancouver, and North Vancouver:
- 9 Boundary/Commercial–Broadway/Granville/Alma/UBC
- 116 Edmonds Station/Metrotown
- 130 Metrotown/Pender/Kootenay
- 145 SFU/Production Way
- 222 Metrotown/Phibbs Exchange
- 245 Phibbs/Capilano,
- 255 Dundarave/Capilano University
In addition to more service hours, TransLink is adding another 25 double decker buses to its fleet. These buses will be introduced on route 340 between Scottsdale and 22nd St. SkyTrain Station later in the fall.
For the full list of Fall Service Changes, visit the TransLink Service Changes Webpage.
TransLink notes that it "has been monitoring how travel patterns have changed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic" and "using these findings to reallocate service to [its] busiest bus routes to reduce crowding and provide more frequent service."
Currently, face masks are recommended, but not required on all TransLink lines and in stations.
